Improvement in head-rests for coffins



J. S. RICHARDSON. Head-Rest for Coffins.

N0. 2I4,052. f Patented April-8, 1879.

NJETERS. FNOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D, Q

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIOE.

JAMES S. RICHARDSON, OF MONTAGUE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEAD-RESTS F OR COFFINS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,052, dated April 8, 1879; application filed February 25, 1879.

To all whom "it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES S. Rrcnnnnson, of Montague, in the county of Franklin, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Head-Rest for Undertakers Use, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a head-rest for undertakers use in placing and supporting in position the head of a deceased person when deposited in a coffin preparatoryto interment.

Heretofore when the body of a deceased person has been prepared and placed in a coffin for burial it has been customary to support the head, which must be in a firm and natural position, by placing under it a support or cushion of some yielding material, like curled hair or excelsior, which should support the head in a desirable position and retain it from moving or rolling from the one side to the other.

All undertakers know that to give the face and body of a dead person a natural appearance the head must be securely placed with the upper part a little raised, and the chin thrown forward and a little depressed.

It is often the case where coffins and caskets are sent into the country that the arrangement of the body is necessarily made by friends or by persons unfamiliar with this duty, and without the conveniences for properly placing the head of a dead friend in a suitable position; and it often happens that when a body is carried for some distance there is a tendency for the head to settle down, or drop back, or become disarranged, throwing the face into a position which seems unnatural.

My invention is intended to remedy both these difficulties, and to provide a means whereby the head of the corpse in a coffin may by any one, however unskilled in an undertakers business, be placed readily and securely, and also be adjusted as circumstances may require.

It consists of a head-rest properly upholstered to receive and retain in position the back of the head. The rest is secured on the upper end of a cylinder or post, having on its upper end a bearing sufficiently wide and strong to support the rest fastened upon it.

The post or standard B has a shoulder, a, projecting from it, and is hollow, having cut through it the thread of a. female screw. Into this runs a screw, 0, which has near its lower end a broad shoulder or bearing, which is to rest on the inner bottom of the coffin or casket. Projecting below this shoulder is the head E of the screw, intended to be of wood, which is cylindrical and just reaching through the bottom of the coffin or casket, and having across it a slot, which enables it to be turned readily.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the rest. Fig. 2 is an elevation, showing the top of standard beveled.

Ais the head-rest, secured on the standard. B is the standard or post holding the screw. 0 is the screw running through the standard. D is the shoulder or bearing, resting on the inside of the bottom of the ooffin. E is the head of the screw, slotted, extending through the bottom of the coffin or casket.

a. is a shoulder, forming a part of the stamiard, to serve as a bearing for the base of the rest A.

The operation of this device is simply this: The standard B is placed in the head of the coffin, the head E of the screw passing through the bottom of the coffin in whole bored for the purpose, the shoulder or hearing D resting firmly on the bottom. The head of the corpse is then placed upon the rest, which is raised or lowered by turning the screw from beneath.

What I claim as my invention is- In a head-rest for coffins, the screw 0, provided with ashoulder, D, and slotted head E, fitting loosely in the bottom of a coflin, in combination with the screw-threaded standard B, provided with the shoulder a, and upholstered rest A, as and for the purpose set forth.

JAMES S. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

JAMES S. GBINNELL, W. H. ALLEN. 

